James Baldwin's Sonny's Blues

James Baldwin's Sonny's Blues sets up the parallelism of personal struggle between two brothers that deal with the conflicts of lifestyle choice and the emotional and mental strain of trying to remain in solidarity with one another. Sonny and his brother (the narrator) came from the same home, same community, and were raised with the same values. However, at some point in their struggle to carve out their own space in society and move out of Harlem, their realism mimics those of most African Americans and other oppressed groups in society. Behind Baldwin's story of the narrator trying to understand how and why Sonny became an addict, is a deeper story about the affects of cultural assimilation; which is designed to destroy tradition, rituals, and culture all together. Analyzing this story more closely, one will see how the socio-historical events during this time period, constructed the cultural assimilation of Sonny's brother into white society, thus creating and losing one's cultural identity which fuels the tension between them.

We get to know the narrator (who is unnamed) mainly through his memories and interactions with his brother Sonny- the main character. He is portrayed as the flat character in the story. The narrator is the older brother that exhibits many of the stereotypical qualities that older brothers do: stay on the beaten path, responsible for younger siblings, and uphold the family name, etc, etc. He engages with his brother from a hardened view that is rooted in social prejudice. Being the eldest, he blessed his parents by getting married, starting a family, serving his country, getting an honorable job and being a provider. The narrator has conformed to the majority of society and lives his life within a confined box of rules and realities. One can say he has been assimilated to his society.

No wonder when faced with dealing with his brother Sonny, he is never quite sure how to approach him. He'd liked to think "Sonny was wild, but he wasn't crazy" (Norton 1728). However, talking with his brother was like talking to a wall; he could never get through or reason with him. Sonny's brother never did much to understand who he was; he was disappointed in Sonny's decisions and viewed them as careless and irresponsible. The stance that was taken with Sonny comes out of concern, dislike, and underlined jealousy. He is amazed that his brother can be so carefree and have passion in unconventional things. Part of him wishes that he could have the choices Sonny has and because he doesn't, he takes that anger and frustration out on him. This is shown in the conversation about Sonny wanting to become a Jazz musician. "Well Sonny, you know people can't always do exactly what they want to do." (Norton 1738) Being bound by his mother's words to "hold on" and "don't let him fall", his harshness